Spilled Soy.

• Author: Taylor, Jeff A.
• Position: Dairy lobby seeks to prevent soy beverages to be called soy milk - Brief Article

Few lobbies are as powerful as the dairy industry. Inside Washington, the subsidies keep flowing to it. Outside in the marketplace, milk is portrayed as vital to good health, even hipness. And nothing will be allowed to encroach on that.

The National Milk Producers Federation has filed a complaint with the Food and Drug Administration seeking a ban on the use of the word "milk" by soybean beverage makers. "Soy-based beverages are attempting to directly compete with dairy products and are inappropriately taking advantage of the familiarity and positive image of dairy terminology in their labeling," explained Rob Byrne, the federation's vice president of regulatory affairs.

But it would be a very confused consumer who mistakes soy drinks for cow's milk. Even the handful of soy...